Referendum on St. Rita s to appear on Lima ballot

7/29/2004

LIMA, Ohio The Allen County Board of Elections yesterday verified enough signatures to get a referendum on the November ballot seeking to reverse Lima City Council s decision to close streets near St. Rita s Medical Center for a hospital expansion.

Director Keith Cunningham said county elections officials stopped checking the 1,006 signatures submitted after verifying 480 of them. Only 479 were required.

A group calling itself Access Right said it does not want to stop the $130 million expansion at St. Rita s, but it is opposed to closing parts of High and Collett streets because of how that would affect traffic flow.